Sunday, May 29, 2011

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Scottie Pippen actually said it.The Hall-of-Fame NBA player, who spent practically all of his playing days along with Michael Jordan, stated an opinion that LeBron James is the best player of all time in the NBA.Phooey!Scottie, I was there when you and Horace Grant came in as rookies in 1987 at the old Chicago Stadium to play for the Bulls.Sitting at the scorer's table center court as the team's sound producer, along side legendary PA announcer Tommy Edwards (who has been back for a second tour of duty with the Bulls for a few seasons now) I was privileged to witness Pippen's career unfold into where it would wind up many years later.But c'mon man, there is no way that James is the best ever.He hasn't even won an NBA championship.Yet.Jordan has six rings to his credit and carried the Bulls on his back to those titles, for the most part.In his seventh NBA season, Jordan's Bulls pounded the LA Lakers in five games to win their first title in 1991.James is in his eighth season and in his only appearance in 2007 in the NBA Finals with Cleveland, was swept in four straight by San Antonio, which won their fourth NBA title in eight years at the time.The Spurs' "Big Three" of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili did three times together what the Miami Heat big three of James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh are attempting to do.Likewise, the Bulls' big three of Jordan, Pippen and Grant did the three-peat from 1991-93 and then a big three of Jordan, Pippen and Dennis Rodman did a three-peat from 1996-98.Make no mistake that James is a tremendous talent, but having witnessed (no pun intended King James' fans) Jordan, Pippen, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, etc. over the years up close at Bulls' games, to say James is already the best ever is definitely a reach.Pippen also back tracked his statement made on the "Mike & Mike" radio show on ESPN Sports Radio yesterday morning, via twitter tweets.So there!However, foot in mouth was already inserted by Scottie.Simply put... Michael Jordan ... the BEST NBA player ... ever!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

With Animal Kingdom losing to Shackleford in the Preakness, it has now been 33 years without a triple crown winner (Affirmed last did it in 1978) in horse racing.But check out how it's done as Secretariat crushes foes in the Belmont (1973) to WIN the triple crown.What a horse!

From all early indications, it seems best to take a wait and see attitude with Rahm Emanuel (pictured right), who was sworn in as the new mayor of Chicago today.Emanuel replaces the retired Richard M. Daley, who was the mayor of Chicago since 1989.Emanuel has been called by some pundits a "corporatist."That may the be case as many of the base that support President Barack Obama have stated that Emanuel's comments and actions the two years he was Chief of Staff for the Obama Administration proved just that.Emanuel was quoted as saying the money the labor unions would spend in support of Democratic (or progressive Democrats) candidates in the 2010 elections would "be like flushing (tens of) millions down the toilet."He must have known something as a result of the "Citizens United" (which should really be called 'Corporations United') case that our inane U.S. Supreme Court ruled on.Of course, the decision allowing "anonymous" groups and corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigns and campaign issues had a HUGE effect in the 2010 mid-term elections that helped swing the majority back to the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.Not to mention the hell it has unleashed on the middle class and working people in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Maine, Indiana, Arizona, etc. that have fallen under the iron fisted rule of Republican governors and/or GOP majorities in the state legislatures.Even here in Illinois, where a Democratic governor (Pat Quinn) and a majority of Dems rule the state legislature, seem to be going the way of corporate boot lickers as they passed a bill that severely limits bargaining rights for school teachers, which happen to be Union workers.Sad, but true as the anti-worker mentality strikes again among political figures, further relegating the middle class to a tough luck, suck it up status while (politicians) grease the palms of corporate executives with more tax breaks, etc.Emanuel also seems to be anti-union when it comes to his stated policies as mayor of Chicago.More union cut backs regarding teachers' collective bargaining as well as pension plans they have worked for along with even more privatization of services.Remember this one thing...Chicago is the city that works and the "City of Big Shoulders".The 'Windy City' is a blue collar town ... Always has been and always will be.Emanuel is in for a real struggle if he thinks he can change that.In fairness to the new mayor, the outgoing mayor (Daley) was already going in that direction with his fondness for privatizing everything in sight the last few years in the city.Apparently, former president George W. Bush made a huge impression on Daley.Hopefully, Emanuel will work with the City Council and try to improve the city for everyone, not just the corporate elite as nearly ALL politicians seem to be doing these days.However, I am not holding my breath because Emanuel has already announced he would like to cut the size of the City Council by nearly half of the current number.Phooey!This guy needs a large slice of HUMBLE PIE for dessert following his dinner at the Inauguration Ball tonight.Hopefully, sanity will prevail and Emanuel will not attempt to bulldoze his way to changing the city that works into the city that is unemployed and under paid as far as workers go.As the late great Frank Sinatra once sang... "It's My Kind of Town, Chicago is..."To which I say ... Mayor Rahm Emanuel, let's try and keep it that way for everybody.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Two years ago today, heftyinfo was launched with the initial blog post "Shut Up", which suggested that former Vice President Dick Cheney simply shut up regarding his lambasting of President Barack Obama.

A lot has happened in the last two years since then...

How about the gestapo-style tactics being utilized by the Republicans in control in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona and many other states throughout our nation?They just LOVE TO STRIP AWAY FREEDOMS OF THE PEOPLE.Even here in Illinois, in fact just in the last 24 hours, the Democratic controlled state legislature passed a "Union busting" bill that pretty much strips away the rights of school teachers in Illinois. And that is a damn shame because those people work a profession that educates the youth that will one day be out future.It's really pretty amazing that the war taking place on middle income and lower income people in this nation by our leaders, who are in the back pockets of the mega corporations that could give a rat's ass about the United States of America, continues to go pretty much unchecked in the media.

Of course, the media is also corporate controlled and thus cannot really report the truth on the story regarding the dismantling of our country.It's a slow and meticulous process that most people just don't see.America (the middle class in particular) has been under attack for the past 40 to 50 years by the ultra conservative right wing movement.In fact, even Lou Dobbs (former conservative CNN news show host), along with Thom Hartmann, wrote a book about the "War on the Middle Class." Hartmann's book was titled "SCREWED: The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class."

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz do the most to tell the real story (with actual facts backing them up) of what is going on these days. Hartmann, who is mostly heard on the radio with his syndicated progressive talk show, is also a stickler for detail and facts when reporting a story.Point is people have to start taking action against the onslaught and this blog site will continue, as we have done for the last two years, to inform people (with strong opinions of course) of the situations surrounding them.What has happened to this country?Wouldn't it be good to get back to having good paying jobs for people with real benefits?That is what built this country and ever since the greed factor of "Reaganomics" kicked in during the 1980's, it's been a slow, but steady downhill slide for most Americans as the corporations have done all they can to line their own pockets, the United States be damned!

What will it take?For Congress to grow a spine and tell the corporate moguls (Koch Industries, Exxon Mobil, etc.) to get screwed and start making them pay their fair share of taxes. Not taking donations from said corporations would also be a good thing for our country because then they are not under their collective thumbs regarding legislation that eventually becomes law.The citizens of the United States also MUST GET ACTIVE and not just listen to the right wing corporate shills like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, etc. and TURN OFF FOX "NEWS" CHANNEL.Here's hoping the people will continue to wake up as some signs have indicated in the recent past. There are a lot of angry citizens (NOT TEA BAGGERS) showing up at town hall meetings letting the GOP (the ruling party in our House of Representatives) know they are NOT happy with the proposal of gutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.In the meantime, we will be watching and blogging.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

For the first time in a while, it is time for some random posts on a fine, spring day.

Regarding the political climate in the U.S., it is what it is ... there isn't too much one can do to convince or change a person's mind regarding their political leanings.

Professional sports isn't what it used to be at all ... too much outside activities surrounding the actual game taking place these days ... rule of thumb is keep it simple.

Will May 21, 2011 really be "Judgement Day" as some highway billboards seem to be indicating?

According to Harold Camping, the president of "Family Radio", the party responsible for the May 21, 2011 "Judgement Day" billboards, a great worldwide earthquake will usher in the judgement on that day... he says his source is the Holy Bible.

A random news day around Chicagoland tells about an average of 15 killings or other random acts of violence in a 20-minute news segment.

What does it mean when people say "It is what it is"? Makes me want to say to that person, "What else would it be captain obvious"? ... Just saying.

Now that Osama bin Laden has been offed, will the U.S. troops pull out of Afghanistan any time soon?

Did anyone reading this pick the winner (Animal Kingdom) of yesterday's Kentucky Derby?

What would young people do without their technologically advanced phones these days?

For that matter, what would ANYONE do without their technologically advanced phones these days?

As summer approaches, will people be traveling closer to home this year due to the outrageous and inappropriate rise in gasoline prices? ... I know I will.

As far as summertime goes, it should be an interesting baseball season in the major leagues as things continue to take shape.

Will the corporate "War on America's Middle Class" continue to escalate?

On this fine, spring day (sunny and 70 degrees in Chicagoland on Mother's Day 2011) the following posts have been presented ...

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The conspiracy theorists are out and about once again as people (mostly the right wingers) are actually DOUBTING that Osama bin Laden was killed Sunday by the Navy SEALs in a secret mission on the orders of President Barack Obama.What is going on here people?Here's another conspiracy theory for ya' while we're at it.Bush and Cheney actually were in on 9-11 because they did nothing to prevent it and then on Bush's orders, bin Laden was allowed to sneak away at Tora Bora when the troops had him dead to rights.Bush admitted that bin Laden was NOT a top priority just six months after 9-11... remember?The video clip of him saying such has been played over and over again since Sunday evening when Obama announced to the American people that bin Laden was in fact, DEAD!Some clown on Fox "News" (Judge Napolitano) has actually accused Obama of a crime for having bin Laden killed.Napolitano claimed that bin Laden was actually a civilian... are you serious dude?This guy you are calling a civilian was the top notch on the Most Wanted list following the murder of over 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.President Obama stated in a debate with John McCain in 2008 that if bin Laden was able to be caught, even if Pakistani officials would not cooperate with us, he would be caught or killed.Consider it done.But the conspiracy theories will continue to abound as people clamor to see the graphic pictures of bin Laden's head blown off.Here's a question ... Why was it that when 9-11 took place and the plane slammed into the Pentagon, government officials swooped in and confiscated ALL video surveillance tapes from a nearby gas station.Nothing was said about that.There was real evidence there and many of the 9-11 "truth seekers" have been vilified over the years for asking for said tapes to be made public.They wanted proof and got none.Now the righties and the crazies who thrive on conspiracy theories (Alex Jones comes to mind right away) want proof.Picture proof.Well, now that the shoe is on the other foot, they are squawking and saying Obama did this for political gain and that Bush and Cheney should also be given credit for the death of bin Laden.C'mon man!It's done. It's over!

Osama bin Laden is dead and that's that.

Stop over analyzing everything already is what these so called pundits should practice.

Let's get the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq ASAP and get busy fixing the United States of America.

After all, this is where we live and the place we, as AMERICANS, call home.

The Creed Of This Blog

The site heftyinfo attempts to speak common sense ... if that is possible in politics. The first love of this site is SPORTS, but also intriguing thoughts on other topics will appear... Just having fun here with a hobby.